What are some of the rules you will try when you are a teacher full time?
How do you react to the definitions and guidelines for engaging students?
What strategies are you using to engage your students? To disengage your students?
There are actually few strict rules in my classroom. Students follow school rules such as arriving before the bell, having their planner signed to go to the lav etc. Students in my class do not have assigned seats but are aware that if they are asked to stop talking more than once to someone they choose to sit with they will be moved and/or recieve dentention. These were the classroom norms when I took over my CT's class but there are many reasons I like this atmosphere. First, it shows students that you respect them and are not treating them like children. Second, it puts responsibility onto the students and makes them more aware of their choices. Third, students know the clear consequences of misbehaving. I agreed for the most part with the blog we read. Students who are more engaged in the lesson will be less likely to break rules throughout the lesson than those who are bored and not engaged. However, I think that the definitions of non-engaging tasks is a bit off because it describes tasks that are sometimes neccessary. It is nearly impossible to have 100% of students fully engaged 100% of the time and thereful rules are still a neccessary part of the classroom even though I agree that the more engaged students are the better for behavior. To engage my students I relate material to their lives. I also try to design assignments that get students moving around and doing hands on activities which I find grabs students attention. For example, we have done a birds and beaks lab, a teddy graham lab, a dichotomous key activity that we went outside for, and a phases of the Moon / tides activity that required students to act as the Moon, Sun, and Earth and position themselves correctly for each phase of the Moon.
It sounds like your classroom has similar norms as the one Sarah E looks forward to. My 11th grade classroom had similar norms, though I'm not sure if I could pull this off in a ninth grade class. Gen Sci teachers, what do you think? You make an interesting point about having rules serving as a "backstop" when Ss aren't engaged in a particular activity. I agree that teachers often need contingencies. Your strategies for engaging students sound good. Have you tried assignments that encourage Ss autonomy, choice, or creativity? If not, these may be new dimensions for your to explore. (Sidenote: There are some typos in your post that the editor flagged. Remember that parents judge a teacher's intelligence based on the number of typos in your handouts, so be sure to kill as many errors as you can. ) - fogleman
There are actually few strict rules in my classroom. Students follow school rules such as arriving before the bell, having their planner signed to go to the lav etc. Students in my class do not have assigned seats but are aware that if they are asked to stop talking more than once to someone they choose to sit with they will be moved and/or recieve dentention. These were the classroom norms when I took over my CT's class but there are many reasons I like this atmosphere. First, it shows students that you respect them and are not treating them like children. Second, it puts responsibility onto the students and makes them more aware of their choices. Third, students know the clear consequences of misbehaving. I agreed for the most part with the blog we read. Students who are more engaged in the lesson will be less likely to break rules throughout the lesson than those who are bored and not engaged. However, I think that the definitions of non-engaging tasks is a bit off because it describes tasks that are sometimes neccessary. It is nearly impossible to have 100% of students fully engaged 100% of the time and thereful rules are still a neccessary part of the classroom even though I agree that the more engaged students are the better for behavior. To engage my students I relate material to their lives. I also try to design assignments that get students moving around and doing hands on activities which I find grabs students attention. For example, we have done a birds and beaks lab, a teddy graham lab, a dichotomous key activity that we went outside for, and a phases of the Moon / tides activity that required students to act as the Moon, Sun, and Earth and position themselves correctly for each phase of the Moon.
It sounds like your classroom has similar norms as the one Sarah E looks forward to. My 11th grade classroom had similar norms, though I'm not sure if I could pull this off in a ninth grade class. Gen Sci teachers, what do you think? You make an interesting point about having rules serving as a "backstop" when Ss aren't engaged in a particular activity. I agree that teachers often need contingencies. Your strategies for engaging students sound good. Have you tried assignments that encourage Ss autonomy, choice, or creativity? If not, these may be new dimensions for your to explore. (Sidenote: There are some typos in your post that the editor flagged. Remember that parents judge a teacher's intelligence based on the number of typos in your handouts, so be sure to kill as many errors as you can. ) -